Photos and additional narratives by Art G. Valenzuela

This is one historic place that only a few Filipino tourists had visited.

This was the site of a fierce battle for the control of Cagayan Valley northwest of the Philippines (gateway to Japan) during World War II. The battle was fought between February 21 and May 13, 1945. The Japanese defenders, who had retreated from the central plains of Luzon, were located at the highest point of the pass (see photos) at the boundary of Nueva Ecija and Nueva Viscaya provinces overlooking southward to a long stretch of winding highway.

The troops were providing cover for the planned exit to Palanan, Isabela of General Tomoyuki Yamashita who was holed up at Kiangan in Ifugao province at the Cordillera. The attack by elements of the US Army 25th Division (which earlier landed at Lingayen Gulf in Pangasinan) was assisted by Filipino soldiers of the Luzon Guerilla Forces under Col. Robert Lapham which included some Chinese volunteers. The Japanese soldiers were forced to retreat further north and re-joined General Yamashita at Kiangan.

The pass was declared open to Allied Forces on May 13, 1945. It was renamed Dalton Pass in honor of US General James L. Dalton who was killed by a Japanese sniper on May 16, 1945 while he was supervising mop-up operations at the highway. (Source: National Historical Commission marker as translated.)

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